Award-winning blog – Living in rural Andalucia

A true giant

The Agave Americana, once seen, is not mistaken for anything else. It stands, sentinel beside Spanish roads, reaching to the sky. Up to 6m tall, it looks like it belongs in the Mediterranean but it only arrived here after the discovery of America, when it became a popular garden plant in southern Europe in the early 17th century. Famously, the Century Plant earns its nickname because it takes years to flower, and then does so only once. The plant puts all its energy into this one huge flower spike, so as the flower grows the plant withers and dries out. As soon as the seeds are ripe, the plant dies. 5 to rememberequivocado/a – mistakenel centinela – the sentinelel Mediterráneo – the Mediterraneanel descubrimiento – the discoveryla América – America